


Forever In Memory

by Dark_Lady_of_the_Night



Category: Rose Gun Days (Visual Novel)
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:22:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26443369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_Lady_of_the_Night/pseuds/Dark_Lady_of_the_Night
Summary: Everything that presently made up Wayne's routine was not so different from what things had been like under the rule of Rose – except that now he had more duties and greater responsibility than he'd had in the old days. That time had been hard, magnificent, precious – that was his past which he definitely wasn’t going to forget.
Kudos: 2





	Forever In Memory

The strong odor of gunpowder and blood spreading in the air reminded of the deadly menace hanging right over their heads, but Wayne didn’t feel afraid. He noted that with some kind of surprise because he knew himself very well – he never was a fearless one, like that invincible old man who had come back alive from war by some miracle, who still kept getting on his nerves (but who he would never stop taking his cue from). Sure, Wayne was always ready to give his life for the girl whose ideals he believed in, that was perfectly true – but to himself, every time he looked like a dog breaking desperately through the chains of his own fear.

So why wasn’t he afraid at all now? Was it due to number of their allies increasing constantly? Or was it due to the new carrier of their ideals throwing around the enemies that got close to her, without hesitation, while making the others to withdraw just with her appearance? Wayne only covered her when she couldn't notice another attacker in time, but it was hardly possible to say that he protected her. It didn’t seem that she needed a protection at all. That reckless bravery reminded him of Leo once again, and he smiled, admitting inwardly that the man was absolutely right.

She was the one who would be able to take on madam’s duties, the one who would fight steadily for the future of Japanese people. As for Wayne, he was going to do everything in his power to help her overcome that troublesome path. Even if that power of his was as nothing compared to her might, he would still try. Rose was sure that she needed him. And Rose was rarely wrong, no matter what she thought of herself.

He turned to the church, gritting his teeth so that the words didn’t come out.

_Please, be okay, Leo, Rose-san._

When all of that ended, many of their allies gathered in the church building. Leo stood a few feet away from Wayne – his favorite suit was now considerably crumpled, every inch was stained with dirt and blood, and his face was covered with noticeable strike marks. He got really clobbered, but survived anyway. Leo had obviously fought with Cyrus and had to deal with him once and for all. Cyrus’s body lying motionlessly near the far wall of the church was a proof of the fact that Leo managed to do that.

Wayne shuddered. He tried not to think about it, fixing his gaze upon the scene that was unfolding right in front of him. Rose and Jeanne were standing opposite each other; both of them with guns held in their hands, but their spirits were apparently different. Rose behaved with confidence, waiting for the next actions of the madam-to-be, and Jeanne promised that she would take care of the district in her own way. She still wasn’t aware of what was required of her right now.

And only when Rose pointed her gun at her, she finally began to realize. But still couldn’t believe that it wasn’t a joke.

And Wayne understood her perfectly, since it was difficult for him as well to accept all those things happening here. That was the way it should be, he knew that – Leo had told him about it before and he kept telling that now; he was certainly right about everything, but… There were some things that Wayne simply couldn’t say aloud.

Rose was the one who had saved him at the moment when he already had given up all hope; thanks to her, he was still alive. Those days he had spent with her would remain forever in his memory – both happy moments and those that were full of anxiety and despair. All of them were the priceless memories of her. But from that moment, they parted ways, and no matter how Wayne wanted to keep calm and just accept that fact as necessary, he couldn’t hold back his tears.

Two shots crossed under the vaults of the church, and Wayne felt his heart drop. So that came to an end. The days of guns and roses would sink into oblivion later, and something completely new would begin. He – all of them – would have an opportunity to see the results of madam Jeanne’s actions. Who knew, maybe she was the one meant to do the things that no one else would manage to do – to lead Japanese people down the right path, to save their countrymen as nation and, finally, to bring a spring to that district.

He sincerely wanted to see that with his own eyes.

After a while, when they all tried to hide the traces of the bloodbath in the graveyard, Wayne encountered the Wandering Dogs and remembered immediately that he hadn’t seen them before, when their people had gathered in the church. Whacked, still agitated after all they had gone through, the three of them nevertheless looked satisfied. Interrupting each other, Charles and Nina claimed that together they had finished Maurice and some of his henchmen off, and Wayne didn’t know whether he should praise them for that.

“In fact, it was he who sent Oliver and others to death,” Charles’s words rang out of a clear sky, and Wayne flinched – how did they… “Zel realized that.”

Wayne turned his eyes to the girl that was standing silently beside her friends, but she only smiled serenely in reply to what wasn’t questioned aloud. Nina explained everything instead of her, and now Wayne could understand their state. The revenge for their deceased companion had given them power and let them do the impossible – to survive the unequal battle and even to come out victorious.

As he met the shining eyes of his subordinates, Wayne said with confidence that they had done everything right.

The sunset sky could be seen when they finally let themselves go away. Many of the allies of the new Primavera headed to the graveyard entrance, and Wayne was absently following them with his eyes. His thoughts were far away – he was thinking about Rose and Leo who had left that place some time ago. Would she be alright? The answer sprang to his mind naturally – of course, since she had Leo. She would be safe as long as he was with her. His own thoughts made Wayne smile.

And that was when he felt a shove in his back.

“Hey, what are you pondering about?” Meryl gave a broad smile, tilting her head to one side a little. As she stood on tiptoe, she placed her hand on Wayne’s shoulder. “Are you worrying about Rose? Is that what you should think about now? New madam’s at the head of Primavera now, and you should follow her. Forgot?”

“I know, don’t tell me that,” he pushed her hand away with a careless gesture and turned to her with a grin on his face. “You’d better take care of things that only you can do. Don’t forget about our promise – it still stands.”

“I won’t, but as for you,” Meryl gave him a flick on the nose, and Wayne winced unwittingly, “sure, you’ve already changed for the better, but can you achieve greater? Can you become a reliable supporter for our new madam? You know that – your impulsiveness often caused problems for you.”

Wayne smiled indulgently, looking into her eyes. “For now, you can say whatever you want, but I’ll definitely make you change your opinion about me. Maybe, one day you’ll even be eager to apologize for these doubts.”

For a second, Meryl got confused – Wayne noticed that – but she collected herself at once and gave a sonorous laughter.

“I will be waiting for that moment, Wayne.”

Meryl’s small figure soon dissolved in the crowd of tall men that were going to leave the graveyard. Wayne didn’t want to stay there as well, so he would prefer to follow suit, but he couldn’t see Jeanne somewhere nearby – he felt like it would be wrong to leave that place without her. While he was thinking of whether he should go and search for her, he suddenly heard a suspiciously familiar rustle of clothes behind his back. Before he managed to turn around, the hands with sharp long nails grasped him tenaciously by the shoulders.

“So you’re still here,” Wayne closed his eyes. He tried to sound displeased, but his words were apparently perceived in the completely wrong way.

“Of course. I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to you, right? Kyaha ☆”

Wayne hemmed and leaned back a bit, his back almost touching the chest of Miguel, who was standing behind him. Miguel rested his head on Wayne’s shoulder and smiled. “You’re too yielding today.”

“Shut up.”

“But you’re still rude. So you’re okay. That’s comforting.”

As he turned his head slightly to the other man, Wayne looked at his strangely contented face with a frown. 

“I recommend that you stop getting on my nerves, if you don’t have a death wish.”

A trill of Miguel’s laughter started to ring in his ears, and Wayne sighed helplessly as he realized that the man would never learn to take his warnings seriously. As for the fact that he himself was never serious about such threatening statements, Wayne still diligently ignored that.

“As if you really can kill me.” Miguel fell silent for a while, and then he said with a completely different tone, “It’s hard for you, isn’t it, Wayne? Now, when your princess is no longer with you.”

Wayne flinched notably and felt instantly angry with himself for being unable to hide that reaction. As he tried to sound as calm as possible, he responded. “Not at all. I’m ready to follow another person as long as they have the same ideals as Rose-san. Jeanne is exactly that kind of person, so… everything’s fine.”

But his voice that quavered at the end of the phrase betrayed his true state, and Wayne could only hope that it wouldn’t be noticed. Miguel shrugged his shoulders. “She’s really impressive, this Jeanne. Emerged literally out of nowhere and made herself known this way… She’s so brisk lady. Maybe it’ll be difficult for you to get along with her.”

“I’m not used to communicate with people like her, really,” Wayne gave a barely noticeable smile, “but that’s not a big problem. I can talk with you, and you are much worse in this regard.”

“I don’t know if I should take offense at this,” Miguel laughed again, practically burying his face in the back of Wayne’s head, and Wayne flinched slightly but didn’t pull away. “And still, Wayne – no matter what you say, Rose is of special importance for you. Once she saved your life, right? This always was one more reason you adored her so much. It’s not just about her ideals. First of all, she’s your close person.”

For a while, Wayne was silent with his eyes fixed on some spot on the ground.

“That’s true, but…” he cut himself short mid-sentence, being not sure if he should continue, but Miguel didn’t take his gaze off him – and under those intent eyes, Wayne couldn’t avoid giving a reply. “It doesn’t mean that I’d like her to remain madam. On the contrary – all these things don’t suit her at all, she’s too pure for that. And she was never obliged to take on this responsibility. I… want her to live her life the way she wants, to be happy…”

Suddenly Wayne realized that he couldn’t go on – the strange thing was, the more he said, the more tightly an invisible rope was seizing his throat, while his eyes were welling up with tears. He fell silent and turned away, trying vainly to control his emotions.

“I have no doubt that you wish her happiness,” Miguel replied quietly, “but you’re feeling sad all the same. Because you won’t be able to be with her constantly anymore.”

“You’re right, Miguel,” Wayne could restrain himself no longer – he became aware of that when he felt hot liquid on his cheeks. “I’m feeling so bloody sad.”

As he turned around for a moment, he noticed a bitter smile on Miguel’s lips.

“I understand you very well, Wayne.”

Miguel’s hands squeezed Wayne’s shoulders a little more tightly as he buried his face in Wayne’s collarbone, and it wasn’t quite clear if Miguel tried to calm him down that way or he himself wanted to be calmed down. Wayne wiped tears off his face and smiled faintly.

“I’m not like you anyway,” he claimed firmly, and Miguel snorted, exhaling against his neck.

“Of course, you’re not,” he drawled in singsong, pulling away a little. “You’re special. But still…” Wayne turned around, noting at once an unusual expression in the eyes opposite him – a knowing look of someone who could see right through him. “There’s something common between us, and even you can hardly deny that.”

Wayne didn’t reply. He knew for sure that he had much more in common with Miguel than he would like to have. But he would never admit that aloud.

“Wayne!” The shout that came from far away made him turn towards the sound. At a distance of about thirty feet Jeanne was waving her hand, beckoning to him. Miguel’s hands let go of his shoulders, and he turned around. With a smile on his face, Miguel pointed to some place aside, where – Wayne noticed that only now – Caleb stood, looking directly at them. By chance, Wayne met his gaze, and at that very moment a smile expressing devil knows what appeared on Caleb’s face.

“I’ve got to go too,” Miguel informed, drawing Wayne’s attention to himself again. “I hope we see each other again soon.”

Wayne nodded, although he wasn’t sure at all when that ‘soon’ would come. Miguel went away, and Wayne headed to Jeanne, casting a glance at those two by stealth. They were smiling to each other while saying something – there were adoration and admiration in Miguel’s eyes, and Wayne thought that he had probably looked the same when Rose had been beside him.

“Too slowly, Wayne,” Jeanne frowned, and there was slight discontent in her voice, but she apparently wasn’t angry. “Let’s go. We’ve had enough for today,” she smiled brightly, and Wayne couldn’t help smiling back. “Let’s allow ourselves relax a bit.”

Jeanne was walking ahead resolutely, and Wayne was following her. The woman wasn’t like Rose at all, but he would get used to her over time – now he was sure of it. He knew that he would always be by her side to protect and support her. The promise given to Rose would never be forgotten.

“I just can’t understand,” Jeanne uttered all of a sudden, “how do you feel about this guy, Miguel… He’s the one annoying you or he’s your… hmm, friend?”

Wayne gave thought to that question, trying to find the most exact answer to it, but he laughed the next moment as he realized that Jeanne had already said the right option.

“He’s both.”

In the evening, the Primavera club was filled with the noise and the fun that had been long-lost there – everyone was celebrating the birth of the new organization with new madam at its head. Quite a lot of their allies gathered here, but there wasn’t enough room for all of them. The members of the Wild Dogs put on something like a small party at their bar and, of course, they decided it was necessary to invite their boss to such an event. And although Wayne was obliged to stay beside madam, he thought that he should give his subordinates a bit of his attention as well. When he asked for Jeanne’s opinion about that matter, she graciously let him leave for one hour.

As soon as Wayne set foot in that place, boys and girls literally rushed to him. Here and there he heard them exclaiming:

“Congratulations on the victory, boss!”

“You’ve been totally awesome!”

“How did you manage to dodge all those bullets while protecting madam? That’s incredible!”

There were a lot of similar questions about the battle, but Wayne rejected all of them straight off. Today there was so much talk about that incident that he didn’t want to add a word to the thing discussed. He would prefer his subordinates to tell their own stories – that was what he came there for.

“Big bro Wayne!” he immediately recognized the voice and turned his gaze to the side – in fact, it was Charles, with Nina and Zel standing just behind him. All the three waved to him in greeting; meanwhile, in the other hand each of them was holding a glass filled with drink that was obviously alcoholic. Wayne was about to admonish them for that but quickly changed his mind – after all, today was special, so prohibitions could be forgotten for a while. Besides, come to think of it… didn’t those guys already grow up enough to be considered full-fledged adults?

Wayne smiled as he remembered himself at their age. Let it be, today they would be permitted to do whatever they wished.

Many of the comrades that gathered here sat down at the same table, surrounding him and the fantastic three who were apparently in the spotlight for the whole evening. Together with everyone, Wayne was listening to the story that now was told in all its glory – about how the three of the Wandering Dogs miraculously won the fight with Maurice Monobe, at the moment when there seemed to be no hope anymore. In fact, the heroes claimed that it was the victory of _the four_ of the Wandering Dogs, and Wayne could only get amazed by such an incredible, mystical coincidence.

Then Charles started to talk about his plans for the future, being followed by Nina and many others – they all promised that they would develop their skills and definitely become the best at what they did. Wayne was listening to them with a smile, but at the certain moment he noticed that he practically didn’t hear the voice of one person. Zel.

During the whole conversation, the girl uttered only a few phrases – most of the time she was silent and all in all looked immersed in her own thoughts. Wayne supposed that she probably intended to leave the country soon and come back to her father. Judging by the carefree faces of Nina and Charles having a lively chat, it was unlikely that they were thinking about it now. However, it was quite possible that Zel herself wasn’t sure yet what she should do next. As if undisturbed, she would smile when she was addressed to, looking lighthearted at first glance, but a more attentive eye could easily notice that things weren’t like that at all.

Wayne regretted that he couldn’t help her now in any way. As well as that he couldn’t do anything with the circumstances that made Zel and her father keep away from their native country. And he even couldn’t give a promise that someday their return to Japan would become a possible thing.

“Wayne-san, what do you think of new madam? To your mind, will both of you work well together?”

As soon as he heard such a question from one of the boys, Wayne remembered that one hour permitted to him was already up. As he excused himself, saying he was in a hurry, he quickly said goodbye to his subordinates and left the bar without giving an answer to the curious guy. Inwardly, Wayne was even kind of glad of that coincidence, because he didn’t want to talk about new madam yet.

At least, not until he himself completely realized the changes that had happened.

For quite some time now, Wayne’s nights were far from being good. Not every time, but still too often he would wake up from another dreadful dream – and it had been like that for the last few months. The night after the rebirth of Primavera turned out to be the same.

By the beginning of a day, the details of those dreams were always erased from his memory, but he could still remember the faces he had seen – all the boys from the Wild Dogs that had died that fateful day, and Oliver Oribe who had led them. The nightmares and the memories following them gave no chance to forget about his own mistake, about his lack of experience that, as it turned out, could be ruinous when one was responsible for someone. Rose had been absolutely right about that.

He would never stop regretting about his silliness, as well as imagining endlessly how everything would have turned out if he had been with them back then. Even though he knew he would never make such a mistake again, he couldn’t forgive himself. If only awareness of his silly mistakes could bring back at least one lost life.

Wayne hardly forced himself to stop thinking about that and fell asleep again – that time he had no nightmares. They never repeated more often than once a night.

Early in the morning, the graveyard where the gunshots had been cracking and blood had been spilled only yesterday met him with an astounding silence and a slight chill. Wayne approached the remarkable row of graves – it was difficult not to notice, on all those headstones, the familiar names with the years of birth and death which were divided by so short period of time. As he stopped near each of those graves, Wayne could vividly remember the boy who was buried there, and he tried to imagine the state of that boy at the moment when death had stolen up inexorably close to him. How scary and painful had it been? What had that guy been thinking about when he had faced readily the hail of bullets, possibly even becoming a human shield for one of his comrades? What if… he had been encouraged by the thought that boss would’ve definitely praised him for such bravery while an attempt to hide away for the sake of saving his life would’ve been equal to admitting that he was a worthless coward who had no chance of becoming a wolf?

Wayne clenched his teeth while trying to restrain the emotions boiling inside him, as well as the curses that were ready to come out of his mouth. The curses were addressed solely to him himself, of course. He couldn’t blame those brave guys for anything – not those ones who had been sincerely striving to make a name for themselves in the criminal world in order to achieve something in their lives. He was the only fool here, no one else.

Wayne was entirely sure that there was not a living soul in the graveyard apart from him, so he flinched as he noticed the figure shrinking beside one of the distant headstones. Slowly, the figure rose from her knees and dusted off her dress, and then she started to speak. While he was at such a distance from her, Wayne couldn’t discern the words she was saying, but he could perfectly see her features. It was Zel.

The girl turned around abruptly when she heard the steps behind her – her eyes widened in surprise for a second. Wayne was the first to speak.

“I didn’t think that you’d be here too, Rapunzel.”

“I didn’t expect to see you as well, Wayne-san.”

Zel was looking into his eyes, as if in an attempt to read his mind – Wayne felt awkward, so he looked away, noticing the name on the headstone behind the girl’s back. Kouichi Oribe. Of course, who else it could be.

“Are you saying goodbye?” Wayne moved his head in the direction of the grave, and Zel nodded with a barely noticeable smile.

“I wouldn’t like to leave without saying at least a few words before we part.”

So she eventually decided to leave – that was more than expected though. It was a pity to part ways with her again, but another option was really impossible – at least, for now.

“What do you think, Zel,” Wayne uttered as he looked to the side, “about how strong is our new madam?”

Zel was silent for a while, and then she answered. “Jeanne is certainly a strong person, but it’s hard to tell how long she’ll be able to hold on. Now the situation for Japanese people is so hopeless – who can be strong enough to change that? I really want to hope for the best, but the truth is… a minority will always be dependent. As long as everything’s like that, can we really expect that we’ll bring our country back to us?”

“You’re right,” Wayne smiled, “it looks like an impossible task. But you know what,” as he turned his head to Zel, he looked into her eyes, “even though I still hardly know Jeanne, she’s like an inexhaustible source of energy. I believe in her, I believe that she’ll be able to devote all her life to this struggle. Actually, I’m gonna do the same. I will always accompany her on this way.”

Zel was apparently surprised to hear such an assertion from Wayne, but the next moment the look in her eyes became visibly warm. Wayne turned his eyes away again.

“Many others also believe in Jeanne. But just believing won’t help, of course. That’s why we all must make one more effort, and in this case… what if we really manage to change something? For example, to make sure that every Japanese person feels safe here? If I tell you that this is one of our goals, will you believe in us and rely on our power?”

Wayne looked up at Zel, noticing how much her face lit up because of those words of his – and he promised himself inwardly that he would do his utmost to help make that dream a reality.

“When this happens, please inform me about it, Wayne-san. Even if many years pass… my father and I will be happy to come back as soon as it becomes possible.”

Zel’s eyes were filled with tears, but nevertheless her lips were forming a smile – and Wayne smiled to her the same way.

“I hope I won’t make both of you wait too long.”

That very day launched the long process of Primavera actively making up lost ground. Jeanne made herself known as the new ruler again and again, reforming the organization and appointing new people to newly vacant positions. Meryl was still a leader in the club, but apart from that, she was engaged to solve some financial issues due to abilities that she had recently showed. The greatest problem for them was the loss of Battalion which used to be the main combat forces of Primavera, but Jeanne wasn’t going to give up – she used all the available relations to attract new comrades. Every day she negotiated with the tradesmen, influential Japanese people, Golden Dragon Society, American military, and everything was for the sake of proceeding with the undertaking that Rose had begun once – creation of the association for native Japanese commerce.

Wayne constantly accompanied Jeanne, wherever she headed; he was present at all the negotiations; he carried out various tasks assigned by new madam; and in addition, he was still the boss for the Wild Dogs. He couldn’t notice another day coming to its end anymore – now he practically had no free time. The responsibility increased so much meant that he was one of those persons who Jeanne relied on more than on anyone else, that he was the one who was able to really help her – and for the sake of that, Wayne was ready to work as hard as possible, until he was exhausted and fully satisfied.

One of those days full of bustle and running around stuck in Wayne’s mind as something special, since that was when he and Jeanne finally came to the American garrison. Butler met them in his office – he gave Jeanne a friendly but somewhat forced smile when she introduced herself, and then he asked them to take a seat. It seemed that Butler avoided looking at Wayne though – at least, during the whole discussion of the current problems related to district 23 and of the ways to solve them Wayne never met his eyes. In Wayne’s memories, Butler looked just about the same as he did now, and still there was one subtle difference. Jeanne who had never met captain before probably noticed nothing wrong.

But Wayne was sure that back then he used to see much more vitality in those blue eyes.

When the formal conversation was finished, Butler asked, addressing mostly to Jeanne. “So did Rose really resign, for good and all?”

“You could say that,” Jeanne replied with a faint smile uncharacteristic of her. “She still has to help me, and I hope that I will learn everything as fast as possible. It’s long overdue to free her completely from this, don’t you think so?”

The expression in Butler’s dull eyes changed, but Wayne didn’t have time to discern that emotion – captain looked away hastily.

“Of course,” a wry smile distorted his face in a strange way. “I’ve always thought that she doesn’t belong to this world. I’ve got to hand it to her though – she has been playing her role splendidly.” As he looked at Jeanne again, Butler asked abruptly. “Where is she now? Is she alright?”

“She isn’t in this district,” Wayne answered instead of madam, making Butler finally turn his eyes to him. Jeanne also gave Wayne a perplexed look – but surprise in her eyes was quickly replaced with lively interest. “Now she’s fine, but if you had asked a year ago… It took Rose-san a lot of time to recuperate, but luckily, all that horror is left behind.”

His words caused Butler to flinch as if he was hit, and Jeanne exclaimed indignantly. “Wayne, how dare you…”

“It’s okay, Jeanne. Wayne has the right to talk like that.”

Butler regained his self-control surprisingly quickly. He looked right into Wayne’s eyes and smiled – however, that smile was just a shadow of the one that had often appeared on his face only a year ago.

“I remember – you were always beside Rose, Wayne. It even seemed to me that you two were inseparables. It was difficult for you to accept new madam, wasn’t it?”

Wayne gave a smile. “There was nothing difficult about that. Now a lot of people ask me the same question, and my answer is the following. I’m not at all obsessed with Rose-san, but I'll always be loyal to her ideals. And, without hesitation, I will follow the person who carries the same ideals and is ready to struggle for them, until the very end. Because Jeanne-san and I strive for the same thing. And those who have common goals are very likely to get along, don’t you agree?”

“Wayne…” amazed, Jeanne mumbled his name indistinctly, and he turned to her with a broad smile.

“I think I haven’t told you this yet. You didn’t expect such a thing of me, did you?”

“Ha, haha,” Jeanne laughed shortly and brokenly as she looked away, “that’s true indeed. I’m shocked. Shocked in a pleasant way, yes…”

Butler was looking at them, and for a split second his distant look flashed with the liveliness that had been so characteristic of him in former times.

Later, when Jeanne and Wayne were about to leave the office, Butler called out to them. Without looking up, he said, “If you ever need any help, just know that you can always contact me. I… will do everything I can for you.”

The surprise Wayne felt at that moment was clearly reflected on his face. Now Butler’s words sounded as sincere as no one of his previous promises did back then, when he, sometimes unknowingly, used to show off to Rose, permanently getting on Wayne’s nerves. A caustic reply was on the tip of his tongue, but before Wayne could blurt it out, Jeanne smiled.

“Thank you, captain.”

Wayne looked at her gratefully. If he had a bit more time, he would surely spoil the whole meeting.

“Thank you,” he exhaled, closing his eyes and calming down gradually. Still, nothing could keep him from making a remark, “Rose-san will also be glad to know that you are on our side.”

For that, he immediately got a cuff on the back of his head from Jeanne, but he didn't even flinch – he only winced slightly, never taking his eyes off Butler. Captain managed a smile, as if overcoming some internal obstacle – and because of that, his smile was too twisted and even frightening.

“I’d rather you didn’t tell Rose about me at all, Wayne.”

When they walked out of the garrison building, Jeanne started to lecture Wayne for his impudent behavior – in his turn, he tried to convince her that he, in fact, hadn’t said anything that bad. ‘To be precise, I had no time to say that,’ his conscience immediately reminded, but Wayne preferred to stay silent about it.

He was still inclined to be swayed by sentiment, and that meeting with Butler evoked his worst memories and revived at once inside him the feelings he wanted to forget – fear, pain, rancor and self-disgust. In fact, Wayne would’ve eagerly taken his accumulated negative emotions out on Butler, and even reasonable Jeanne wouldn’t have been able to prevent that, but…

In captain’s eyes, he had definitely seen the reflection of the feelings quite similar to those that kept disturbing him.

Once a special day came – the day on which no meetings and negotiations were set up, and all other things to do could wait a little. As he cast a look at the calendar, Wayne realized that a month had already passed since change of power had taken place in their organization. The hard month full of endless work on regaining the position of Primavera, as well as of Japanese people in district 23, the long days of getting used to communicate with new madam and their business partners – Wayne still could hardly believe in his so expanded list of duties. He was enthralled by all those things that made him throw himself into his doings and nearly forget about…

At that moment, Wayne’s eyes wandering purposelessly around his room lighted upon the sheet of paper that was laid on a small table – a few not so smooth lines had been written on it by the hand that rarely held a pen. Wayne came closer, looking through those lines one more time – just like he had done last night after receiving that unexpected letter – and folded the paper, placing it back.

He still doubted, being not sure what he should respond to that written invitation – right up until the telephone rang in his apartment. As he heard Jeanne’s voice on the other end of the line, Wayne tensed up, expecting that now he would probably be assigned some urgent task, but she said only the following.

“You may be absolutely free for today. Do whatever you want and don’t think about me,” Jeanne giggled quietly, “but only until tomorrow. We’ve got a few meetings coming up – you can morally prepare for them in the meanwhile.”

So he was informed of the thing he didn’t expect at all – after all that time, he got a day-off in its full sense, and that meant that there was no reason to refuse that invitation. But still, despite that undoubtedly pleasant news, his internal tension didn’t go away.

“As you wish,” Wayne smiled, trying to suppress that strange feeling – and he almost managed to do so. “In that case, watch yourself while I’m not with you.”

He practically saw Jeanne’s smile in front of him when she replied in a warm voice, “You take care of yourself, too.”

Wayne hung up and approached again the small table in the middle of his room, unfolding the sheet of paper. With a smile, he said to some spot in the surrounding space, “Okay, be ready for guests.”

He didn’t need to drive too far – only a few hours passed before an attractive and calm rural landscape undisturbed by foreign reconstruction that was ubiquitous in Japan appeared in front of his eyes. While checking against the address written on the envelope, soon Wayne got to a small beautiful house surrounded by a low fence – and behind that fence there was a little garden where a painfully familiar figure leaned over a bed of magnificent roses while singing. As if she felt the other’s gaze, she raised her head, and her light-colored eyes widened in surprise.

“Wayne?”

She rushed to him and, as she came closer, she opened the gate in front of him – in order to clasp him in her arms at once. Confused, Wayne put his arms around her thin waist and distinctly felt his face slowly getting a red tint.

“Rose-san, you’re almost knocking me down.”

He heard a quiet laughter very close to his ear.

“I’m so happy that you’ve found the time to come here.”

Rose asked him to come in; she led him to the cozy living room and offered different kinds of treats – Wayne was ready to accept anything. He explained that he had gone to that place as soon as a long-awaited day-off had been given to him, and with a smile of satisfaction, Rose thanked him for his decision to spend his free day on the visit to her.

As for Wayne, he didn’t tell her about the letter he had received the day before, as well as about all his doubts related to his arrival at that place. She just didn’t need to know about it. And now that he was looking into Rose’s shining eyes, seeing the smile he missed so much, Wayne definitely didn’t regret anything.

Without waiting for the questions, Rose told him a bit about the quiet and peaceful life that she and Leo had been living in that area. According to what she said, literally hour ago Leo had gone to visit some comrade of his and was supposed to come back only by late afternoon. While listening to her, Wayne smiled inwardly – he understood that Leo had disappeared at such a time intentionally, in order to give him an opportunity to stay alone with Rose for a while.

_This bloody old man. Arranged all of this by himself, but didn’t inform me and Rose-san of it._

While telling him about the days she had spent here, Rose never stopped giving so easy and light smile, which Wayne hadn’t seen on her face for a long time. He realized once more how much madam’s duty had been bearing on her before, and that was why he didn’t even want to tell her anything about his life – in order to avoid reminding her again of the world she had escaped so recently.  
Still, as expected, Rose was the first to ask him about it.

“How are you doing, Wayne? Have you already managed to get along with Jeanne?”

“I don't know,” Wayne drawled hesitantly. “Personally, I’m absolutely content with her, but she’s unlikely satisfied with me. You know, she constantly lectures me for how I behave, and sometimes she even hits me on the head. I’d prefer her not to have done this though,” he winced discontentedly and reached for the back of his head unwittingly – the feeling caused by the last cuff from Jeanne vividly revived in his memory. Rose laughed.

“You got it wrong. I contact Jeanne from time to time, and you know what – she never complained about you so far. On the contrary, she often says to me that you’re her indispensable assistant, and that she would’ve never coped with everything without you.”

“I'm quite surprised,” Wayne curved his lips in a smile, trying to hide his confusion behind the mask of calm. “Actually, I think I don’t deserve to be praised this way.”

“I have no doubts that you deserve it,” Rose claimed with confidence. “After all, I always had the same opinion about you.”

That time Wayne didn’t know what to say as the objection, and humbly accepted the praise, but the pleasant warmth that was spreading over his chest mixed with bitter awareness of all the mistakes he had done before, without noticing that he had only been hurting the one he was eager to protect from any possible harm. Such a fool. He had always been like that.

“I have another question for you, Wayne,” Rose spoke again, and her face suddenly clouded over in some indistinct feeling, “as far as I know, some time ago you and Jeanne visited the American garrison?”

“That’s right,” Wayne agreed; he immediately guessed what Rose was getting at. Really, it would’ve been strange if Rose, who was always worried about everyone, had never asked about that. “Captain Butler said that from now on he would provide us with any feasible help. Of course, he often made promises like that before, but during our last meeting, I could believe these words for the first time.”

For a few seconds, Rose was silent, with her eyes down – as if she was pondering something.

“How did he look?”

“At first glance, he didn’t change much,” Wayne replied without a second thought. “Except that his eyes are almost lifeless now. And he can’t smile like before anymore.”

Upon hearing that, Rose got noticeably sad. She didn’t say anything, still focused on something in her mind, and to break the silence that hung in the air, Wayne added, “He asked a lot about you, Rose-san. Seems like there was time when even he was worried about you.” 

“Maybe I should have talked with him?” Rose uttered wistfully as she looked aside with somewhat distant expression. “I think something’s happened to him – something terrible, and no one knows about it. And no one can help. No, what if… there’s no way to help him any longer?”

Wayne let out a heavy sigh. That was so typical of Rose – always and under any circumstances, she thought about how others felt. And even though in that case Wayne partly shared her feelings, he simply couldn’t get rid of the thought stuck deep in his mind: that man was the one who during the year had been letting the horrible tragedy unfold in district 23 without any obstacles, take people’s lives and cause suffering to lots, lots of persons. Amidst all of that, Rose herself had been hurt so much, she had lost those she loved – and still, she sympathized with the one who was indirectly guilty of the whole situation.

“You don’t need to be concerned about it,” when he started to speak, Rose flinched from surprise and looked up at him. “Even if you’re right, I’m sure that captain will deal with his problems by himself. Besides, even though he wished to know how you were doing, it didn’t seem to me that he wanted to see you. He even asked me not to tell you anything about him,” Wayne stretched his lips in a smile, but, unlike his usual one, that time the smile caused nothing other than bitterness spilling in his mouth.

“If everything is like you’ve told me,” Rose averted her eyes again; her hands with intertwined fingers were trembling slightly on her lap, “I probably should stop fixing my mind on it.” She was silent for a while before she shook her head abruptly, as if getting rid of heavy thoughts and regrets, and then she turned her previous bright gaze to Wayne as she gave a gentle smile. “Will you tell me more about yourself? And how are others in Primavera doing – do you know anything about them? And yes, what about your subordinates – don’t they cause problems for you?”

The conversation went on for quite a long time – so long that both of them didn’t notice the coming twilight. Wayne talked so much that he got cottonmouth; and by the time when everything he wished to tell about was said, he could barely move his tongue. But all that was a trifle not worth the attention – compared to the fact that Rose never stopped smiling, and there was no shadow in her look anymore. For the sake of that, Wayne would be eager to talk even longer, but the time provided for both of them wasn’t an endless thing.

While walking him to the front door, Rose remarked all of a sudden. “It’s a pity that you and Leo haven’t met. It seems he’s lingered at his friend’s place.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Wayne shrugged it off carelessly. “I wouldn’t say that I was really eager to see this old man.”

Rose giggled. “Don’t tell him that, or you can upset him.”

Wayne hemmed; his doubt related to Leo’s so vulnerable personality was clearly seen in his appearance. Meanwhile, Rose continued, “You know, even if something isn’t said aloud, one’s behavior can tell a lot. And I think Leo would like to talk with you too. After all, you are his student – he wonders who you can become.”

Wayne smiled. Well, if Rose was right, then the old man was probably waiting for him behind the door, tactfully avoiding interfering in the others’ conversation.

He went out into the small yard, and indeed he immediately noticed Leo who was smoking near the gate – the man gave a broad grin as soon as their eyes met. “Wow, who came to visit us! What a surprise!”

“Leo?” Rose exclaimed in amazement. “When have you come back?”

“Just now,” Leo put out the cigarette before starting to approach them. “And when I came closer to the door, I heard that you unexpectedly had a guest. You could’ve told us that you were going to come and see us, Wayne.”

“Next time, I’ll definitely do that.” Wayne decided to play along with that little game, but the corners of his lips involuntarily twitched up – and Leo smiled back at him in the same way.

Perplexed, Rose was shifting her eyes from one man to the other, and she obviously started to suspect something – but when she opened her mouth, being about to ask, Leo turned to her. “Things ended up like this, so I think I should at least walk our guest out. I’ll be back soon, so wait for me, will you?”

Rose blinked a few times and nodded in agreement, and Leo turned around while gesturing for Wayne to follow him. Before he went away, Wayne said goodbye to Rose and heard her quiet reply, “See you.” Even when he turned away, he could still feel her smiling as she followed them with her eyes.

“Hey, Leo,” Wayne said after they moved away far enough, “things are really like you’ve written about them in that letter? I mean, you know… did she really miss me?”

“Judging from her talking recently only about you – yes, she did,” Leo smiled while taking out a new cigarette. “I’ve listened to a lot of her memories of what you’ve said or done for her back then. No matter how you slice it, she got attached to you – and you too, I suppose?” Wayne nodded, and Leo continued, “All these days you were constantly busy and hardly could find the time to talk with her on the phone, at least. As for her… you know, her eyes shone so much when she talked about you that I didn’t want to stop it. Now, you’ve seen exactly this look of hers.”

“Isn’t it how she usually looks?” Wayne asked with caution, and Leo looked away as he puffed on the cigarette.

“I’d like it to be so,” a wisp of smoke easily went up in the air, followed by another one and one more – Leo took a few drags before he spoke again, “Sure, now she feels much better, but the past doesn’t let go of her yet. You know that, she’s always been too responsible and that’s why… she still can’t accept and forgive herself for her ‘mistakes’.”

“Mistakes?” Wayne repeated; he could imagine vaguely what that probably meant. Rose had told him about it in those endless gray-colored days they had been spending in Shizuoka… no, not only then, but much earlier too. Every failure of Primavera, every negative consequence that had affected their countrymen’s lives she had always taken personally, and that way she had been letting the cruel fate inflict non-healing wounds on her.

“Everything she’s ever done wrong, everything she hasn’t said to someone though she ought to have said this – as she thinks, of course – all these things don’t let her get on with her life now.”

Wayne sighed without giving a response. It seemed that he had been mistaken in thinking that Rose was finally doing well just because she had been smiling so brightly a few hours ago while telling him about her everyday life. Then… how much time should pass before she truly gets over?

“Sometimes she even has nightmares.”

Those words made Wayne flinch. He remembered his own nightmares full of dying screams, pain and nauseous odor of blood. At the thought of Rose possibly seeing something like that in her dreams, Wayne felt his heart sank.

“What does she see?” he asked in a slightly quavering voice. Leo shrugged his shoulders.

“I have no idea. She never tells me this, and it’s useless even trying to ask. The only thing I can say is that next morning she’s as black as thunder and doesn’t really speak all the time. In the end, I manage to bring her to her senses somehow, but… it’s never enough. That’s why I’ve decided that her life needs to be supplemented with some more things that make her smile.”

Leo turned to Wayne and winked while the other man shook his head.

“Just imagine, you’ve even dragged Jeanne into this. Was it hard to woo her to provide me with a day-off?”

“It was, actually,” Leo gave a little smile. “She absolutely didn’t want to let you go, but I tried to be as persuasive as possible. You, by the way, may thank me for the unscheduled long-awaited rest.”

Wayne laughed. “Oh yeah, thank you.”

He replied in a joking manner, but in fact, he was grateful to Leo – although more for the invitation than for the day-off. Without it, Wayne would’ve probably hesitated to visit Rose much longer, even if he’d had more free time. And only after that letter had helped him realize that she needed him right now, he had managed to put his silly doubts aside and to come here. They met – and it seemed like both of them only got better because of that.

“Why don't we meet up too one day?” Leo suddenly suggested. “For example, we could drink together somewhere – you’re definitely allowed to do this now, and I won’t be getting the child drunk.”

“That’s a good idea, on the one hand,” Wayne drawled in an affectedly reflective manner, hiding the smile, “but are you sure that you’ll be alright, old man? In your age, after all… ouch!” he jumped aside involuntarily, rubbing the injured back of his head. “Jeanne, and you too – all the old ones are the same… ow-ow-ow!”

“When will you learn not to be rude to your elders?” Leo responded with such calm and serenity as if it was not he who had just hit Wayne on the back of the head several times in a row. “Maybe I should deal with bringing you up?”

“No way,” Wayne grumbled, still pressing his hand to his head. “Teach me something more useful instead.”

“No problem,” Leo smiled, “just say the word, and I’ll prepare a lesson for you – the one you won’t regret.”

“Just like before, right?” Wayne remembered those days well even now, when they were separated from the present by a few long, stressful and extremely hard years. That was so short period of time, but nevertheless he had managed to master all Leo’s valuable instructions and got the power he always needed – the ability to control his own emotions. “I have to admit, due to that training I’ve become much stronger – in all senses. But I’m still far from my goal.”

“Oh, and what’s that?” Leo asked with genuine interest, but smile never went off his face – as if he could already guess what the reply would be. Wayne grinned. 

“To become the strongest one, of course – and to show you that.”

Leo’s hand reached for Wayne’s head again, and the latter shrunk by reflex, waiting for another hit – but instead he felt the other’s fingers ruffling his hair, almost tenderly. Back then the older ones, including Leo himself, would often tousle his hair, expressing condescending affection, and Wayne couldn't stand it, but now the feeling was different. In Leo’s eyes he saw no taunt and no mockery, nothing like that – that serious look meant that the intention expressed in such haughty and presumptuous manner was perceived correctly and approved of. Maybe that was the reason why Wayne didn’t try to get Leo’s hand off his head and silently allowed him to make that gesture.

Late in the evening, Wayne arrived in Tokyo. After the day, considerable part of which was spent on the way, he felt absolutely exhausted, but fully satisfied. The needed meetup ended, he was back in district 23, and tomorrow would bring him back in his usual everyday activities. So, that was the time to focus on everything that made up his regular life, but…

Even now, in front of his eyes he could see too distinct image of Rose’s smile, as well as of that last look Leo had given him – and that made him feel an irritating, nagging sensation in his chest.

It was about midnight, but the city remained as noisy as it always was, and the special liveliness could be seen there – near the building that stood out with its bright lights in the dark of night, and from its windows the light was pouring and the muffled music was coming. Primavera club, a place with the charming atmosphere for men, where they could have anything they would wish for the enjoyable pastime – from the high-quality alcohol to the beautiful women, to everyone’s taste. Plenty of entertainments and pleasure – to the extent to which guest’s wallet could afford, of course.

Wayne hadn’t dropped in for quite a long time, so in the first minute he was deafened and somewhat bewildered by the noise of music blended with ubiquitous conversations, laughter and loud exclamations. While advancing carefully inside the room and trying not to hit anyone, Wayne approached the bar counter with far fewer people near it and seated himself far enough from those who were there, ordering a shot of a rather strong drink.

At that moment, he felt someone’s hand put softly upon his shoulder, and an unknown woman’s voice quietly uttered right into his ear. “Hello, pretty boy. Want to have some entertainment?”

Wayne turned around – really, he had never met before the young girl that had come closer to him, but she recognized him at once and took her hand off with an abrupt movement, smiling awkwardly. “Oh, it’s you, Wayne-san. It’s so surprising. I haven’t seen you here for quite a while.”

“Are you so sure that you’d definitely notice me if I came?” he smiled and turned back to the counter – his drink was already served. The girl immediately sat down on the next chair; she was looking at Wayne attentively, with a smile turning more confident bit by bit.

“How could I not? The future consigliere stands out from the crowd at once. Today you look a bit more ordinary, though, and that’s what confused me.”

Wayne choked while taking the first sip of his drink.

“Whom do you call the future consigliere?” he asked as he cleared his throat. “Who on earth invented this?”

The girl giggled, her hand slid unobtrusively over the smooth surface of the bar counter, and the thin white fingers softly touched Wayne’s palm. “Oh, come on, it’s obvious. Who else if not you – the one who’s the closest person to madam, who’s entrusted with so great responsibility… This role will suit you better than anyone else.”

Wayne only hemmed in reply. As if a dope like him had a chance to ever become the advisor of Primavera’s madam. After all, he didn’t resemble at all the one who in his eyes was always the ideal example of consigliere, and that man hadn’t even had time to teach him something before…

Wayne winced and shook his head, driving away the last image of Richard stuck in his memory. He tried to remember how the man had been looking in those days when everything had been calm and relatively fine, and it turned out to be surprisingly easy – as if in reality, he saw in front of him the consigliere with a strict, slightly weary look and a faint but sincere smile on his thin lips. As he looked at that creature from his own imagination, Wayne silently asked, _‘Do you think I really can take your place?’_

“However,” he heard again the girl’s suave voice very close to him, “what’s the reason for the future consigliere’s decision to come right here at this time? Maybe we should go back to the thing I suggested at the very beginning?”

“No need for this,” Wayne replied, smiling; without looking at the young lady of the night, he pulled away a little. “I’d rather you helped me to find someone.”  
Soon that very girl led him to the separate room and told him to wait there before going away with a slightly discontented face. A few minutes after the door slammed one more time.

“You come to me during my working hours?” with a broad smile, Meryl quickly walked into the room and seated herself at the table opposite Wayne. He sighed.  
“I’m sorry if I distract you.”

“No, no, it’s nothing, for you I’ll always find a minute. If you wish, you can even,” Meryl moved towards Wayne, covering his hand rested on the table with her palm, “become my guest for tonight, and I’ll serve you properly.”

Wayne jerked back, releasing his hand. At the sight of his reaction, Meryl immediately burst into laughter.

“As always, you’re mocking me, aren’t you?” he grumbled, displeased. While suppressing chuckles, Meryl started to wave her hands.

“Just kidding, don’t take offense. So,” she instantly turned serious, “what do you want to talk with me about at this late hour? And by the way, why not all dressed up this time?”

That remark concerned the same thing which had been commented on lately by the girl that had graciously helped him to find Meryl – Wayne didn’t put on his favorite white suit and instead donned the clothes Rose had given him a few years ago. He shrugged his shoulders indifferently. “I wasn’t at work today.”

“So you had a day-off?” Meryl perked up considerably. “It’s an unusual thing for you. Well, I suppose you came here to get a pleasant ending of such a day?”

“Stop it already,” while trying to ignore the mocking attacks and giggles, Wayne decided to get to the point. “I’ve just come back to Tokyo. For the first time since they departed… I’ve seen Leo and Rose-san.”

Meryl quickly became curious. She asked a lot of questions, and Wayne eagerly told her the details of the meetup passed. Every time he remembered the conversation with Rose, he couldn’t notice that he was stretching his lips in a smile, and realized that only when Meryl smiled without taking her eyes off him. At such moments he got back his usual unreadable expression – or rather, he wished to believe that nothing was expressed on his face. However, Meryl was looking at him the way it became clear at once – she could read all his emotions perfectly well, no matter how hard he tried to hide them.

“I see you’re satisfied with how you’ve spent the day. You’ve probably been waiting a long time for such an opportunity, right?”

“In fact, it was quite unexpected,” Wayne gave a smile. “Everything was arranged by Leo, so little depended on me and even on Jeanne-san. And, to be honest,” he fell silent for a second, and after a few moments of hesitation continued, “at first, even after I received the invitation, I doubted if I should go.”

Meryl was looking him up and down for some time with pensive expression, and then she said, “You thought you wouldn’t want to come back if you went.”

“Exactly.”

Wayne exhaled, covering his face with his hands. Even though he had come there because he wanted to discuss that with Meryl, now he was sitting right in front of her without knowing how to explain his feelings in a right way. But she seemed to understand it too.

“It turned out to be not that bad, didn’t it?”

“Well, I’ve managed to leave that place in the end.”

Wayne laughed, shortly and sharply – and the sound grated on his own ears. While still hiding his face, he was silent for a while, trying to sort himself out and find the right answer.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he spoke again as he looked up at Meryl, “I remember that I should follow Jeanne now, and I don’t have anything against it. I even got used to her already, but still…”

“Still she’s not Rose,” Meryl finished the phrase instead of him, “and she’ll never mean the same that Rose meant to you. I get it better than you think, Wayne.”  
She smiled, as if a bit condescendingly, but in her eyes Wayne saw, in fact, understanding and even compassion. Not that it helped him to feel better, but he was glad anyway – at least, because he was heard out, and his worries weren’t mocked as something insignificant.

“So many things happened over the last year,” Meryl looked down, her lips curled into a half-smile but the corners were trembling hesitantly. “Many of us lost our relatives after the war and the natural disaster, but over time we got friends who became something close to family for us. And when we have to part ways with them too… it’s predictably hard and painful. But all we can do is to accept it and move forward.”

“Meryl…”

“And you know what, Wayne,” Meryl looked at him and gave an open broad smile, “I don’t think that both of us have something to complain about. We still have the things to struggle for, as well as people for the sake of whom we’re going to do that. We know who we can address to if we need support, who we can talk and share our problems with. After all that happened, to have all of this is an amazing fortune, don’t you think so?”

Meanwhile, Wayne was looking into those eyes opposite him – the eyes full of tears, not corresponding to such a smile – and he thought that they really could be called the lucky ones. Shots started to flash quickly in his memory, and they contained the faces of many people – from friends with whom he used to fight side by side back then, to acquaintances whom he had probably had a chance to see no more than a couple of times, but there had been a time when he and they had been sharing the same views and goals. Some of them had died long before the due time, while the others had been left all alone, without support, possibly even without the desire to live any longer. There were the ones who had been cruelly deceived and disappointed, and Wayne definitely didn’t want to imagine how they could have felt if they had learned the whole truth. After everything that had happened, it would’ve probably been better for them to remain ignorant until the very end.

Taking into account all those things, the ones who had managed to survive in the horrible sequence of the lethal dangers, not to lose all their dear ones and to retain the goal in life certainly could be regarded as incredible lucky devils.

Wayne smiled as he suddenly got a distinct feeling that all the vague worries let go of him at once.

“You’re bloody right, Meryl.”

The night continued for a long time. They said a lot of words and drank quite a bit of alcohol, but to some extent, of course – Wayne remembered moderation, as well as the fact that tomorrow morning the work would await him. Meryl even mentioned the latter a few times, asking if it was okay for him to linger for so long. Wayne told her not to worry about it without adding any explanation.

He just wanted to stay here a little longer, and he could tell from Meryl's expression that she didn't mind keeping him company – for as long as he would need it.

“Wayne! Do you hear me? Hey, come back to reality!”

Jeanne’s frowny face emerged as if out of nowhere in front of him, and Wayne felt like he just woke up from a dream. As he came up out the world of his own thoughts, he made himself focus on the current situation, and gradually he remembered: he was near the madam’s office, standing here, opposite entrance, and waiting for Jeanne to be ready, and then they were supposed to go to another meeting with the representatives of the Golden Dragon Society. Now madam finally showed up, and he didn’t even notice that.

“I’m sorry. So shall we go?”

“Yeah,” Jeanne tilted her head slightly to the side, looking Wayne over with a barely noticeable smile. “I hope you’re alright. Maybe you drank too much yesterday?”

“Nothing of the kind,” he snapped immediately, but at the same time he started to think that it could be rather good explanation of his present strange state. He didn’t regret any glass he had drunk, though. Yesterday’s meetup with Meryl brought him the relief which was worth being slightly thrown off balance today.

He could remember he had been leaving Primavera at the end of the night, while Meryl, with a smile from ear to ear, had told him that she had spent her time splendidly and that she would always be glad to see him again.

_“You’ve almost completely stopped coming,” she had said back then, “and I’ve already forgotten that I can have a lot of fun with you.”_

_She had been talking for a while longer the things like ‘work is important, but you shouldn’t forget your old friends’, and for some reason, that was the moment when one guess had occurred to Wayne._

_“Isn’t it you who tells everyone that I’m ‘the future consigliere’?”_

_Meryl had looked at him calmly, apparently feeling no awkwardness because of the unexpected exposure, and then she had grinned openly._

_“Isn’t that what you’ve promised me once?”_

_Wayne had quickly remembered. On that memorable day, after the battle that had put an end to the ‘days of guns and roses’ and marked the beginning of the new era with new madam at the head of it, he had let himself make a rather bold statement in front of Meryl that he would manage to become a reliable support to Jeanne. 'I’ll definitely make you change your opinion about me’ – that was what he had assured her back then._

_As he had met Meryl’s eyes, Wayne couldn’t help smiling triumphantly. Of course, there was still a long way to the goal he had set for himself, but the progress could be seen now – because Meryl already managed to believe in him._

“Don’t give me that line,” Jeanne laughed, dragging Wayne again from the memories of the last night. “In your normal state you can’t be thoughtful – I already know this thing about you.”

“Why does this sound almost like an insult?” Wayne gave a grin. Jeanne reacted by making a serious face and waving her hands in the negative.

“No way, I didn’t mean that.”

Her fake seriousness didn’t last for long, though – she burst into laughter again and went outside, gesturing for Wayne to follow her. Everything’s the way it always was – that was the thought that occurred to Wayne as he habitually obeyed madam’s command.

Come to think of it, everything that presently made up his routine was not so different from what things had been like under the rule of Rose – except that now he had more duties and greater responsibility than he'd had in the old days. That time had been hard, magnificent, precious – that was his past which he definitely wasn’t going to forget.

That was right. Wayne would always remember, but life full of ambitions and new opportunities was going on – and he would look only to the future.


End file.
